Richard + Smith + blogging = rsmithing

Tag Archives: North Carolina

A new photomontage blended from disparate compelling images:

Scattershot And All

Treetops from the west, Chiroptera from the east. This is the combined view of an overlook at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles juxtaposed with a bat skeleton from the Nature Science Center in my home state of North Carolina, all shot and assembled over a scattered period of time. See the originals at Flickr. Musical accompaniment: “All Is Not Lost” by OK Go. Poetry accompaniment by William Carlos Williams.

Spring and AllBy William Carlos Williams

By the road to the contagious hospital
under the surge of the blue
mottled clouds driven from the
northeast—a cold wind. Beyond, the
waste of broad, muddy fields
brown with dried weeds, standing and fallen

patches of standing water
the scattering of tall trees

All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
leafless vines—

Lifeless in appearance, sluggish
dazed spring approaches—

They enter the new world naked,
cold, uncertain of all
save that they enter. All about them
the cold, familiar wind—

Now the grass, tomorrow
the stiff curl of wildcarrot leaf

One by one objects are defined—
It quickens: clarity, outline of leaf

But now the stark dignity of
entrance—Still, the profound change
has come upon them: rooted they
grip down and begin to awaken

What do you think? Ever seen a bat skeleton? Are you a fan of OK Go or William Carlos Williams (or both, like me)? What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Let us hear from you in the comments.

I’ve been meaning to document this doorway for a while. I ride by it at least a few dozen times every month. So it only felt right to work it into a montage. I snapped an image of it using Hipstamatic one day while waiting at a traffic light. Later, I realized it would be more interesting with the door part obscured and replaced with an image of a tree. I snapped the tree photo in the moment, especially for this image. But it still needed at least one more element, so I browsed through my repository of unfettered originals from here and there, and found the perfect complement in this outdoor light from a bar, Single Brothers, a few blocks up from where the door exists.

So, I mix all this together in Photoforge2 with masks, a border, varying levels of curves/levels/clarification adjustments, and here we are: an image to accurately represent my creative vision that also represents a part of my city. There’s even more of Winston-Salem, on Instagram, courtesy the good folks at Airtype and their Winstagram project.

What do you think? Ever seen any interesting doorways in your city? What would you create in a photomontage? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Here’s a photomontage I did recently using my iPhone and some choice apps. I was visiting the Grove Arcade in Asheville, NC a few weeks ago and noticed the sunlight looking interesting around this stairwell, so I snapped a black & white with Hipstamatic. Later in the week a gnarled tree trunk in my neighborhood caught my attention, so I snapped that.

Click to see the ingredients at Flickr

I knew I wanted to do something with the tree and the stairwell, but it looked incomplete when editing just those in Photoforge2, so I snapped a candle that happened to be burning when I was working on this. Finally, I added some texture with the TtV Photo Studio app, then some magic from the universe… and there we go.

But What Does it Mean?

The title of this image is from a lyric in a song by one of my favorite bands, The Deftones, titled, “Pink Cellphone.” It’s an airy, dark, and experimental-sounding track – qualities also applicable to this image, so I thought it was an appropriate fit. It’s not my intent to promote any belief an any kind of power whatsoever. I just like the sound of the song and the pairing with the image.

If there is any one true power as far as this kind of thing goes, it’s the brilliant photomontage work of Jerry Uelsmann. If you like my humble creation here, definitely check out his stuff. This piece in particular reflects my appreciation for his art.

These guys are making a furious noise in the trees here in North Carolina. Every 13 years or so, depending on the species they come around, and I was lucky enough to get some shots of one over the weekend. I believe it may be part of Brood I, but I’m not totally sure. I took this with my iPhone, using Hipstamatic and a macro attachment lens.

What do you think? Have you experienced any of these critters around your neck of the woods? Let us hear from you in the comments!

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When an afternoon thunderstorm sends you into the right spot at the right time…

Mooney’s Mediterranean Cafe, Winston-Salem, NC.Click to see more like this on the Pinterest board of my iPhoneography.

Downtown on a Saturday just after the start of a thunderstorm was the perfect place for this quick snapshot of a peaceful moment, reflecting on the day so far and the future ahead, while anticipating Mooneys‘ excellent shawerma over hummus. In retrospect, I’m grateful for having the technology and inclination to document the moment. It was one of those simple times that’s easy to forget, but worthwhile to remember.

What do you think? Ever serendipitously documented a moment that you only realized later? Ever wish you’d done that? How do you think you might do that in the future? Let us hear from you in the comments!

Join the Pin Party!

A pin party is where bloggers get together and pin each other’s posts. This is my first time trying one, inspired by Sarah Dawn Designs.

Pin Party Rules:

Visit at least two other links and pin two projects from the authors’ blog.

Add Sarah’s button somewhere on your blog, whether it is in the post itself or on the side.

Link to a specific post and it must be something you wrote or created.

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It just so happened that my phone was ready for a quick snapshot when I got up to the bar last night. This bartender’s ace-up-the-sleeve tattoo, literally up a sleeve (though not the typical sleeve tattoo), makes an appropriate background for a highball glass alight with a candle. Shot with an iPhone4, processed using Noir and Dynamic Light. Check out my iPhoneography board for similar stuff. Cheers.

What do you think? Ever seen a cool tattoo at an appropriate moment for a photo opportunity? Do you take photos more often with your phone or with a camera? Let us hear from you in the comments!

I’ve had the great pleasure of working with these fellas to design their logo and website (among other projects), and they invited me over to Studio 2A for a chat about graphic design, websites, social media, and what goes into developing all of this (and more) for a business, for a blog, or just for personal enjoyment.

The Less Desirables, In Their Own Words:

The Less Desirables is a weekly podcast by Tim Beeman and Brian Attridge recorded every Wednesday. We cover an expansive array of topics, ranging from current and non-current movies to new music to the latest sports news to doses of pop culture, complete with a “Beer of the Week.” The idea is to give our audience a recap of the previous week’s news, while simultaneously previewing the upcoming week. We have a local, North Carolina flavor geared towards a national audience, but we never lose sight of our community.

You can download the podcast directly from the TLD site, from iTunes, and from a few other places, too. My sincere thanks to Brian and Tim, and to Mr. Eugene Sims, for having me over. It was a great discussion and I recommend the show to anyone seeking a dose of pop-culture, sports, tech, movies, music and a plethora of other fine distractions.

What do you think? Do you listen to any podcasts regularly? Have you ever been on a podcast, and what was that like? If not, what topics would you consider if you were to be invited? What’s your take on the topics covered in this broadcast? Let us hear from you in the comments!